Sun beat Sparks for eighth straight win but they want to get better

Connecticut’s Brionna Jones had 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in Saturday night’s win over Los Angeles. (Photo courtesy Connecticut Sun)

The Connecticut Sun won their sixth straight game Saturday night coming off the one-month break for the Tokyo Olympics with a 76-61 win over the Los Angeles Sparks before more than 4,400 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

The Sun have actually captured eight consecutive regular season games – the longest such streak in the WNBA this season and have moved into first place in the WNBA standings – looking for that playoff bye into the WNBA semifinals by being one of the top two teams in the league.

Connecticut coach Curt Miller was pleased with the win. He was also encouraged by the drive to be better than he saw from his team after the victory.

“If you go into that locker room right now, they want to be better,” Miller said. “They want to handle (the) physicality (of other teams) better. They want to execute (plays) better. They’re not satisfied.

“I love that mentality. It doesn’t matter than they won tonight. They want to be better because they have some dreams and goals for this franchise,” he said.

Connecticut (20-6), which clinched a playoff berth for the fifth straight season earlier this week, beat the Sparks on Thursday night by four, 76-62. Two days earlier, they outlasted the hard-nosed Las Vegas Aces by four, 76-72.

Brionna Jones had a team-leading 16 points and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds. Jonquel Jones scored 14 points, including 12 in the first half, while Dewanna Bonner added 10 and grabbed seven rebounds. Kalia Charles scored 12 points off the bench, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

There were eight lead changes in the first half but Connecticut led by three at halftime, 40-37. The Sun stretched their lead in the third quarter finishing with an 8-2 surge to lead by 11 after three. Connecticut extended the lead to 20 in the fourth quarter.

Connecticut had a season-high 12 steals with three each from Brionna Jones and Jasmine Thomas. The Sun also pulled down 38 rebounds, 30 on the defensive end of the floor that limited the opportunities for the visiting Sparks (10-16).

Erica Wheeler had 15 points to lead Los Angeles while Te’a Cooper added 13.

Even with the win, the Sun left the Mohegan Sun Arena floor wanting more.

“If we’re really going to be a championship team, we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard,” Connecticut’s Briann January said. “We can’t allow teams to force us to play at a lower standard than we are capable of. That is where we need to grow. Our expectations are to play at a championship level every time we step out on the court.”

January mentioned the 18 turnovers by the Sun. “We need to play with pride, play with self-discipline,” she said. “A lot of those turnovers were self-inflicted.”

It was a little over two weeks ago that the Seattle Storm rolled over the Sun, 79-57, to win the Commissioner’s Cup championship game in Phoenix. The Sun have lost all three games this season against the defending WNBA champion Storm.

Connecticut’s next four games are on the road beginning with a match in Washington on Tuesday night beginning at 7 p.m. against the Mystics.

The Sun will have three road games in five days after the Mystics game with contests in Dallas (Sept. 7), Los Angeles (Sept. 9) and Phoenix (Sept. 11).

NOTES: Connecticut improved to 13-1 at the Mohegan Sun Arena this season and maintain a one-game lead over Las Vegas (19-7) in the overall league standings and a 2½ game lead over Seattle (18-9). When it comes down to the tiebreaker, the Sun won the season series with the Aces, 3-0. … The Sun return home on Sept. 15 when they host New York. … The Sparks shot a season-low 20-53 from the field Saturday night.